Mr. Monk and the Garbage Strike (14 Jul. 2006)

A city-wide garbage strike throws Monk completely off his game as he tries to solve the murder of a union boss.

Director:

Jerry Levine

Writers:

Andy Breckman (creator), Andy Breckman,

Stars:

Tony Shalhoub, Traylor Howard, Jason Gray-Stanford

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Tony Shalhoub	...	Adrian Monk
Traylor Howard	...	Natalie Teeger
Jason Gray-Stanford	...	Lt. Randall Disher
Ted Levine	...	Captain Leland Stottlemeyer
Chi McBride	...	Mayor Ray Nicholson (as Chi Mcbride)
David DeLuise	...	Larry Cutler (as David Deluise)
Silas Weir Mitchell	...	Drugstore Manager
Robert Blanche	...	Union Vice President
Michael Shamus Wiles	...	Jimmy Cusack
Jayden Lund	...	Morris
Lonnie Colón	...	Ronnie
Alice Cooper	...	Himself
Stanley Kamel	...	Dr. Charles Kroger
Frank Clem	...	Ron Neely
Darlene Kegan	...	Reporter #1

Storyline

The sanitary workers of San Francisco are on a strike and naturally, Mr. Monk is appalled by the ferocious smell the neglected garbage is causing. The head of the union is mysteriously murdered which makes matters worse. Monk desperately seeks out the murderer so that the garbage of the streets can be quickly disposed. Distracted by the stench, Monk makes false assumptions of the who the real murderer is making him wrong for the first time.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Mystery | Crime

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

14 July 2006 (USA)

Filming Locations:

City Hall - 200 N. Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kaledo Dritte Productions, Mandeville Films, Touchstone Television

Technical Specs

Color:

Color Black and White (some sequences)

Did You Know?

Trivia

This episode contains a few "firsts": This is the first episode to have more than one "Here's What Happened" sequence. In fact, it has three. This is the first time that Monk has let his morals slip (not that it was intended, keep in mind the fact that the city reeks of garbage).

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Goofs

When Mayor Nicholson leaves city hall by the back door and encounters Monk, he grabs the umbrella from his aide Cutler. When they cut away at the car, Cutler again has the umbrella and then back to Nicholson on the next shot.

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Quotes

Adrian Monk: Here's what happened.
[pauses]
Adrian Monk: I mean, here's what *really* happened.

User Reviews

Dare I Say This Episode Reeks? Well, Not Entirely

In this episode we sadly discover Adrian Monk is not an honorable man. It's very disappointing to Natalie, who is an honorable person and has to badger our "hero" to tell the truth about a murder. Wow, I agree with her - very disappointing, but he's still "the guy" to all us fans.

The story is all about garbage and the smell it produces. I'm tempted to say this episodes "stinks," but I''ll save it for the headline.. It show did have its good moments, anyway.

The longest garbage strike in San Francicsco history is going on and Monk is mad at the union leader, blaming him for the city "reeking" so bad. Monk wants to get out of town and says he hopes the union guy dies. Natalie admonishes him for saying something like that. Apparently, somebody else isn't happy with the union boss either as he is killed overnight. Natalie tells Monk, "be careful what you wish for; look what you did with your karma." Okayyy.

Things get silly again when Monk goes to a union meeting the next day and makes a fool of himself. Nonetheless, when they find out who he is, they hire him as an independent investigator because they don't believe their boss would kill himself. Monk takes on the assignment when he hears that if he deems it a suicide, labor-and-city negotiations will continue and probably end the strike. So, despite seeing clues that indicate it was a murder, Monk lies and tells everyone it is a suicide, just so he can have all the city cleaned up! Pretty bad, eh? Thankfully, Natalie saves the day, morally-speaking, and Monk goes on, reluctantly, to figure out what happened.

Things settle down, but then with 10 minutes to go, the story gets really goofy with Monk obtaining a big truck and becoming a garbage man, himself. Then, of course, when his mind is finally cleared and we find out who the real killer is, it's not a shock when you know how politically-correct the writers of this show are. In this case - Andy Breckman, who also is the creator of the program, with an assist from Daniel Gaeta - would never have a minority as the killer. Just once, it might refreshing to see NOT see this incredible liberal bias, which is exhibited almost all the time.